UK citizen and Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai found guilt under China's National Security Law

Archived version

Hong Kong’s High Court ... pronounced publisher and democracy activist Jimmy Lai guilty on trumped-up national security and sedition charges for his work at the now-defunct Apple Daily newspaper.

The verdict delivers yet another blow to Hong Kong’s press freedom and underscores the extent to which the Hong Kong authorities have eroded the city’s rule of law.

Lai was convicted by three handpicked judges, having been denied his constitutionally protected right to a jury trial, for “colluding with foreign forces” and for “conspiracy to publish seditious material.”

“Jimmy Lai is a British citizen. His release should be a condition of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s planned trip to Beijing in January,” the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation writes in a statement.

Prior the the verdict, Starmer has called the release of Lai, a British citizen, a priority. ...

Several rights groups have called the conviction "a cruel judicial farce" ...

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According to reports, Lai will learn his sentencing on a later date. A mitigation hearing is scheduled for Jan. 12.

Lai has yet to decide on whether to appeal the verdict, according to his lawyer Robert Pang.